Method of treating and processing poultry



Jan. 6, 1959 H. B. TURNER METHOD OF TREATING AND PROCESSING POULTRYOriginal Filed Feb. 24, 1955 7D Mecbam'z'al Pick SCALDEIL WAS LR.

x N 1 A N INVENTOR J Herman B. Turmer.

TREATING AND PROCESSING POULTRY Herman B. Turner, Timberville,VillVIETHOD F 1 Claim. (C1. 17-45 This is a division of my copendingapplication for patent Serial No. 490,176, filed February 24, 1955, nowPatent No. 2,820,245.

This invention relates to the processing of poultry and is moreparticularly concerned with the treatment of freshly killed poultrypreparatory to defeathering.

In the poultry industry, the conventional method of treating poultryafter killing, is to subject the poultry to scalding so as to facilitatethe subsequent defeathering operation. It has long been recognized thata proper control of the scalding treatment is highly important in orderto prevent loss of bloom or appearance of freshness and also to reducebarking or skin abrasions by the defeathering or mechanical pickingmachines. Both of these factors are affected by the temperature and thelength of time to which the poultry is subjected to the scaldingtemperature. 3 e

lnthe early development of the poultry industry, high scaldingtemperatures were used, sometimes as high as the boiling point of water.This resulted in a partial cooking of portions of the poultry adjacentthe exterior and in a marked degradation of the poultry due to loss ofbloom and high incidence of barking.

As a result, attempts were made to decrease scalding temperatures andthe widely accepted conventional practices today employ what is known assemi-scalding wherein the temperature of the scalding fluid, usuallywater, is between 128 and 138 F. and the poultry is subjected to thescalding treatment for a period of about 28 to 30 seconds. This is atbest a compromise, however, and does not yield ideal results. There isstill considerable barking and loss of bloom.

Scalding tanks used for this purpose are elongated and set parallel tothe line of travel of the poultry in the processing plants. The poultryis lowered into the tank at one end and drawn through to the other endfor the specified period, whereupon it is withdrawn.

In order to maintain the temperature of the water evenly throughout thelength of the scalding tank, circulation pumps, sometimes eight or more,are employed to keep the water thoroughly mixed. Also, the tanks areprovided with overflows and inlets, the object being to maintain thetemperature of the water at a given value and at the same time todischarge some of the debris that washes off the poultry during thescalding.

This operation, however, is far from satisfactory. Nothing short of acomplete change of the scalding water can eliminate this dirt and filth.The overflow procedure simply permits a dilution of the contaminatedscalding water, but so long as freshly killed birds are fed to thescalder, it is apparent that the scalding water will never be clean. Thedirt, debris and filth tends to increase more and more because each birdentering the scalder adds more than what can possibly be removed by theoverflow.

Freshly killed poultry in commercial operations are not only dirty, butthey also have blood and loose feathers on their bodies. They usuallycontain sand and/or soil atent O ice and chicken manure which theypickup in the yards 'or coops before slaughtering and some bloodattaches to them during the slaughtering or butchering operation. Loosefeathers are also developed by the convulsions and beating around of thefowl while dying. Such blood, feathers and foreign matter, collectivelyreferred to herein as debris, are deposited in the scalding tank andmixed with'the water thereof. Theyaccumulate to the point. where theyinterfere with the operation of the-circulation pumps which necessitatesa stoppage of operations in order to make a complete change of thescalding .water and clean the debris out of the circulation pipes andpumps.

The general object of the present invention is the'provision of a methodof treating freshly killed poultry which eliminates or reduces to aminimum the adverse effects of such debris in the scalder.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a method of treatingfreshly killed poultry which sharply reduces the temperature of thescalding bath and/or the time of scalding, whereby better bloom isobtained and less or no barking results in the defeathering machine.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a method oftreating poultry which eliminates or minimizes the interference ofdebris with the pumps of the scalding apparatus.

A still further object of the invention is to prevent work stoppages inthe assembly line treatment of poultry.

In accordance with the present invention the scalder is eliminated as acleaning medium. In other words, the scalding of the birds and thecleaningthereof are two separate and distinct operations. I have foundthat it is possible to wash the debris from poultry in much less timeand by the use of much less waterthan what is involved in theconventional methods of scalding. I have also found that a cleaned fowlcan be scalded for the purpose of loosening the feathers thereofpreparatory to defeathering, at a lower temperature and/or shorterperiod of time than can be done with an unclean bird, that is, onecontaining the usual debris. This appears to be' due to the fact that indebris laden poultry, a considerable amount of the debris lies close toand against the skin and also in the pores of the skin, making itdifficult for the softening action of the hot water to take effect. Byremoving the debris from the poultry before being fed to the scalder,the beneficial eflfects explained above are obtained.

In addition to these benefits, a continuous inflow of fresh water to andan overflowing of water from the scalder is not necessary, because thedebris is practically all removed beforehand. The water in the scaldercan be maintained at a uniform temperature by direct heat, such as asteam or hot water jacket, or an electrically heated oil jacket.

Instead of scalding under the conventional conditions of 128 to 138 F.for about 28 to 30 seconds, poultry thus cleaned in accordance with thisinvention may be scalded at a temperature of only to F. for 10 to 20seconds to give comparable results in the defeathering machine with lessbarking and better bloom.

The invention is further illustrated schematically in the accompanyingdrawing which shows as a side elevational view, partly in section, aportion of a poultry processing line in accordance with this inventionconsisting essentially of a cleaning machine 11 and a scalding tank 12.

The poultry cleaning machine is of the customary types in general useconventionally to clean poultry after the defeathering operation. Itcomprises a pair of parallel walls 13 (only one shown) each containingspray jet nozzles or heads 14 at the top. 'It may also contain movablemembers (not shown) to physically act upon the poultry Patented Jan. 6,1959' as it passes through from the inlet side 16 to the exit side 17along theprocessing line on a track 18.

The cleaning machine 11 is effective in removing loose feathers, blood,dirt, sand, manure and other debris. It has a catch basin 19 for thedirty water and admin 20 from the basin for discharging the dirty water.The clean poultry, as it leaves the exit side of the' cleaning machine,isimmediately loweredintofthe adjacent end 21 of the scalder 12. Thewater in. the scalder is maintained at atemperature of about 120 to 125F. A temperature in this range is not considered :a cooking temperature.'It is removed from thescalder in about 10 to 20 seconds, depending upontheitemperature of the water. A higher temperature in the rangeindicated requires less time and vice-versa.

In the scalder the water remains relatively clean for prolonged periodsof time. The same can be used con tinuously for an entire day soperation therebymaking it unnecessary to shut down operationsduringt-he day to change the water.

After leaving the scalder, thepoultryis carried onthe track 18 to thedefeathering machine-or mechanical, picker (not shown) which may be ofany conventional type, such as that described in U. S. Patent No.2,469,953. Due to the lower temperature in the scalder, there isconsiderably less degrading of the poultry by the defeathering machinedue to barking and the bloom of the-poultry is considerably higher. I

Water for the cleaning machine 11 may be supplied directly from a freshwater line (not shown) or, alternatively, asillustrated in the. drawing,from a bottom outlet 22 of thescalder 12, while anequivalentamount-of-fresh water is supplied to the scalder through aninlet pipe 23. The pipe, 24 containing a pump 25, communicates theoutlet 22 with amanifold 26 to which the nozzles 14 are.

connected. Either method is wholly satisfactory, but the latter has theadded advantages of keeping the scalding tank even cleaner andpermitting the use of a single heat exchanger (not shown) to furnish hotwater for both the scalder and the cleaning machine. In this connectionit is to be noted that the amount of water; that would thus be withdrawnfrom the scalderfor use by thecleaning machine would be substantiallythesame as the'arnount which is conventionally overflowed from the scalderunder present day practices in aifutileefiort to keep the scalding waterclean. Thus, as compared to present day prac- I 'tices, thisinvention'doesnot require the useofanymore water and, in fact, resultsin a saving of water, because a periodic complete change of scaldingWater during the day is unnecessary and this amount of water is,therefore, saved, together with the fuel required to heat it.

The present invention has for its basic concept the realization that thewashing or cleaning of poultry and the scalding thereof require twocompletely difierent conditions for optimum results and that priorattempts to carry out both of these operations in a scalding tankresulted in a confusion of the two operations with consequentdifiiculties as explained above. The scalding operation takes longer toperform than the cleaning operation The poultry must be in contact withthe scalding water for a much longer period of time than with thecleaning fluid. It has not been found economical to use a continuouslyfresh supply of water exclusively'fo'nth'e scalding operation. Even thejet type of scalders, using jets of water, instead of water baths,require the recirculation of the scalding water for economicaloperations, because of. the enormous quantities of water that wouldotherwise be required. Recirculation of Water in these jet type scaldersintroduces difficulties similar to those encountered with the usualcirculation pumps of scalding tanks, as explained above. l p j Cleaningmachines, however, require relatively little water, no more than what isnormally lost by overflow in the conventional scalder and can,therefore, be economically operated with either a continuous supply offresh, clean water, or by water from the scalder. Consequently, acomplete separation of these two operations is possible with the use ofno additional water. 7

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

The method of treating freshly killed poultry prior to.

defeathering thereof comprising first washing the poultry byhot-spraying the same and then immediately scalding the poultry at atemperature in the range of about to F. for from 10 to 20 seconds.

References Cited in the file of. this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS746,530 Latchford Dec. 8, 1903 1,222,008 McIntyre Apr. 1'0, 19172,260,286 Allan Oct; 23, 1 941 2,649,615 Sharp Aug. 25, 1953

